THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY IMPACT ON SOCIETY
SERIOUS GAMING
Video games are usually regarded as puerile by most people; they are the target of infamous conspiracy theories about its impact on the child’s development. Nevertheless, video games are gradually becoming regarded as a necessary alternative when it comes to training people in dangerous or expensive environment. (Togelius, 2019)
These games with such ulterior motives are known amongst researchers as "serious games". While these have been on the rise for their apparent benefice for some jobs, serious games face "big problems" because of their simple programming, according to Joost Westra, a computer scientist at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Indeed, in case of a real fire, there can be hundreds of people making unpredictable decisions all around you. In comparison, the NPCs in these serious games usually follow tightly scripted behaviors. Thus, unless the trainee plays exactly as the designers/trainers expect, NPCs behave like confused robots, unable to go off-script. Another flaw in serious games is that they use "fixed scenarios or simple rules to determine the course of the game," says Westra. "Expert users can quickly estimate how the game will react to their actions", yet they have to play through the easy levels to reach their proper level. It becomes counter-intuitive if video games are used to gain time, but become at the same time a time-waster for some.
Credits: AsiaPacificFire
Credits: Bandera County Courier
This is where Artificial Intelligence comes into play in video games to improve the teaching and fix these problems to help the other domains of society. In fact, Westra created a new architecture for serious games that uses artificial intelligence techniques similar to those in some of the latest video games. It is ironic that video games, inspired other video games (the serious games), to help some workers and society. Joost Westra focused on a game called RescueSim, a serious game for firefighters. Rather than following scripts, Westra's code turns each NPC into an autonomous agent with its own nuanced goals, responding to events as they happen. Therefore, this new architecture for developing AI is a step forward making other use of AI in other domains much more realistic and responsive. This is reportedly useful for the development of many vocal assistants present in GPS, phones and other companies. (Bohannon, 2010)
According to Nicolas Esposito, professor and researcher at Les Gobelins, Serious Games could be achieved in the near future if we were to develop an Artificial intelligence complex and adaptive enough. When this will be possible, “there will still be some negative consequences, yet they will be minimized greatly by the positive ones”. He stressed the fact that it is impossible for us at this stage to predict the nature of these negative consequences.
The main goal of gaming companies when developing AI is to find a sweet spot where Artificial Intelligence provides more realism and natural interaction between players and environments and becomes sophisticated enough to respond realistically to live input rather than scripted plots. This development would have marketing and teaching applications if an high quality user experience is preserved. Indeed, it is not too far off to imagine shops which would employ Artificial Intelligence to help consumers by giving them personalized advice, responses and many other options suited for the consumer’s preferences. (Marr, 2019)